26 Protesters, Including Elected Officials, Arrested in Zucotti Park 'Fight for $15' Rally

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, NY — Twenty-six people, including four elected representatives, were arrested during a Tuesday morning protest for a national $15 minimum wage, an NYPD spokesman told Patch.

The NYPD spokesman could not give out names of those arrested, but Politico reported that City Council Members Mark Levine, Antonio Reynoso and Brad Lander and State Assemblyman Francisco Moya were among the 26 arrested.

A group of fast food workers, airport workers, Uber drivers and taxi drivers kick off a day of “civil disobedience” with a march in Lower Manhattan. The protesters gathered in Zuccotti Park around 6 a.m. and marched to a McDonalds location at 160 Broadway between Liberty and Cortland streets. The protest was organized as part of the National Day of Action to call for a national $15 minimum wage.

When the protesters sat down in the middle of Broadway and refused to stop blocking the street they were arrested, an NYPD spokesman told Patch.

City Councilman Brad Lander wrote an op-ed in The Nation titled "Why I’m Getting Arrested During Today’s National Day of Disruption," in which he wrote that the courage of fast food workers fighting for a $15 minimum wage should be seen as an inspiration in the days following Donald Trump's election victory.

"So when Donald Trump fails to bring back manufacturing jobs and restore a version of the 1950s to his voters, the Fight for $15 has something else to offer," Lander wrote. "Their courage, bold vision, solidarity, and policies of basic economic fairness help advance an America that offers genuine opportunity for workers who feel stuck amid a widening economic gap."

Here are some scenes from this morning's protest:

Lead photo courtesy of City Councilman Mark Levine